Hey everyone,
We wanted to write and let you know that things are going well here in Roach, Missouri. We have adjusted well, and really love it here. We’ve made tons of friends already in the 3 short weeks we have been here and there’s only potential for more. Itʼs not that hard to make friends, I guess, when everyone around you has the same focus. Our instructors are fantastic. Mel and I are learning so much about what missions is all about and what itʼs going to take to succeed. Some of the courses we’ve taken are Biblical Hermeneutics, Worldviews, Stewardship, Foundational Bible Teaching, Communication Skills, Applied Ministry Skills, and Hold The Ropes (prayer emphasis), just to name a few. Weʼll be taking more as the semester progresses.
Some of you may wonder what life is like for us here in Roach, so I’ll give you a little look. Here’s a glimpse of a day in the life of the Simmons family. First, I get up at 5:30am to go check the trot line (a big long fishing line with 30 hooks on it) with my good friend Abel Miller (classmate). After returning with bushels of fish, or sometimes one fish , I head in to do my devotions. Round about 6:45am, the girls get up and I get them dressed for school and feed them breakfast. By this time itʼs about 7:30 and I have to get to class by 8am. Melody follows at 9am because childcare doesn’t open until 8:40am. Because of this, she has to listen at home via the campus Intranet to the classes she misses. We are in class from 8am – 12pm. We have four one hour class sessions in a school day and break for lunch at noon. Once home, we eat and the girls go for naps at about 1pm, then I go and exercise from 1:15 – 2pm. I usually run 36 holes of Frisbee Golf. What can I say? May as well have fun while you run, right? By the time I make it back up the long winding road, up hill mind you, to our house, I’m about ready to have a heart attack – but itʼs a good hurt. Pain is just weakness leaving the body! Well you know, I gotta shed those extra pounds if I’m going to be a pilot. Wouldn’t want to leave someone’s kid behind because I can’t resist eating bear claws for breakfast. I’ve lost 15 pounds towards my goal of 50 by next August, in case anyone’s interested. So, after exercise I get cleaned up and head down to the garage for my work detail. I’m a mechanic, therefore I’m banished to the garage, never again to see the light of day…HA, itʼs not so bad. Work detail ends at 5pm and I head back up to the house to eat supper and play with the girls until about 7:30pm when we get the girls to bed with a Bible story and songs. From 8pm until about 10:30 or 11 we do homework and then go to bed. So thatʼs a “normal” day forus here. I might add that the schedule does vary from day to day. For instance, on Tuesday nights Mel plays volleyball with friends. Wednesday nights Iʼm involved with the Young Life outreach while Sarahʼs part of Cubbies. Thursdays, we meet with our staff advisor couple who ensure that weʼre progressing smoothly through the training. They encourage us and answer any questions we may have along the way.
We’ve already caught enough fish that we’ve hosted 2 Fish Fries and had lots of people over to help us eat. Itʼs been a fantastic opportunity for fellowship and networking with students and staff. We even deep-fried hot dogs…YUM! You should try them, its not like hot dogs can get that much worse for you…Ha! Finally, I’d like to say that Melody and I have been experiencing a wonderful time of growth in our marriage life and spiritual walks. My devotion times have become more meaningful and regular, and I’ve learned to work more as a team with Melody around the house, sharing in the household duties and chores. This has really helped Melody find time to do her devotions on a more regular basis. Oh, I almost forgot, there were so many babies under the age of 1 that the nursery staff had to have 12 volunteers keep their babies in class with them. In turn, those moms are taken off the Childcare worker schedule. We decided to volunteer, so Melody and I are tending to Hannah while in classes. We sometimes we take her to the cry room, but mostly she does pretty well. Big time PRAISE! We definitely appreciate each of you who have remembered us in your prayers these past months, and hope that you will continue to remember us. We miss Avalon terribly, but to be honest we couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now. God has moved wonderfully in our lives and has shown His clear hand of guidance and provision through all of the moving and settling in. Please tell everyone back home that we miss them, and haven’t forgotten about them, but we’ve not had a spare moment since leaving to sit down and really communicate how much we love you. So, WE LOVE YOU!!!
Pray for:
• Josh to be bold in his outreach ministry with Young Life
• Melody to have the energy and discipline to be a mom and student
• Sarah to continue to have a teachable heart toward God
• The kids to remain healthy
Praises:
• Gods provision during this time of training
• Our house here on campus is wonderful!
• Our neighbors and friends here are terrific!
• Close proximity to my family